President Donald Trump speaks at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, FL, after two National Guard soldiers were shot in Washington, DC, on November 26, 2025.

By Chris Spiker From Daily Voice

The Trump administration is pausing immigration applications from nearly 20 countries as President Donald Trump called migrants from one nation "garbage" he doesn't want in the US.

US Citizenship and Immigration Services has ordered an immediate hold on asylum and other immigration applications for people from 19 so-called "high-risk" countries. The pause was revealed in an internal policy memorandum on Tuesday, Dec. 2.

The immigration freeze includes Afghanistan, Burundi, Chad, Cuba, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Laos, Libya, Myanmar, the Republic of the Congo, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Turkmenistan, Venezuela, and Yemen.

"The Trump administration is making every effort to ensure individuals becoming citizens are the best of the best," USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser said to The New York Times. "Citizenship is a privilege, not a right. We will take no chances when the future of our nation is at stake."

The memo also blocks requests like green card applications, citizenship requests, and travel documents for migrants from the countries named by Trump in a June proclamation. The Trump administration will also review green cards issued to people from the travel ban countries, pause asylum decisions, and reassess asylum grants.

The new rules could affect about 1.5 million migrants with pending asylum applications, along with more than 50,000 who were granted asylum during the Biden administration.

"I am recommending a full travel ban on every damn country that's been flooding our nation with killers, leeches, and entitlement junkies," Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said in a social media post on Monday, Dec. 1. "Our forefathers built this nation on blood, sweat, and the unyielding love of freedom — not for foreign invaders to slaughter our heroes, suck dry our hard-earned tax dollars, or snatch the benefits owed to AMERICANS. WE DON'T WANT THEM. NOT ONE."

Immigration lawyers reported that naturalization ceremonies and immigration status interviews were canceled, turning away applicants without explanations.

"Everything is being put on hold," said Ana Maria Schwartz, a Texas immigration lawyer. "It is just like a traffic jam, and it is just going to get worse and worse and worse."

The US border preclearance inside Vancouver International Airport.

The US border preclearance inside Vancouver International Airport.

Wikimedia Commons - Customs and Border Protection

The move comes about a week after two West Virginia National Guard members were shot in Washington, DC, including Sarah Beckstrom, 20, who died from her injuries. The suspected shooter, an Afghan national named Rahmanullah Lakanwal, has been charged with murder in the attack.

Lakanwal arrived in the US under a Biden-era program that allowed legal entry for Afghans after the US withdrew troops from Afghanistan in August 2021. The 29-year-old worked in the Afghan army's CIA-backed "Zero Unit," and the Trump administration approved his asylum case earlier in 2025.

While he campaigned on anti-immigrant sentiment, Trump's xenophobic language has increased since the shooting on Wednesday, Nov. 26. Despite having no reported connection with the attack, Trump has lashed out against Somali immigrants, particularly communities in and around Minneapolis.

During a Cabinet meeting on Dec. 2, Trump used dehumanizing rhetoric toward Somalis, including Rep. Ilhan Omar, a Minnesota Democrat who arrived in the US as a teen from Somalia.

"We could go one way or the other, and we're going to go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country," Trump said. "She's garbage. Her friends are garbage. These aren't people who work. These aren't people who say, 'Let's go, come on, let's make this place great.'"

Omar, a frequent target of Trump, responded to his latest criticism in a Bluesky post.

"His obsession with me is creepy," she posted. "I hope he gets the help he desperately needs."

Trump, who appeared to be falling asleep during the meeting, has ordered a new Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation in the greater Minneapolis-St. Paul area.

"When they come from hell and they complain and do nothing but b***h, we don't want them in our country," said Trump. "Let them go back to where they came from and fix it."

Wikimedia Commons - The White House

St. Paul Mayor Melvin Carter denounced Trump's comments.

"The words that founded this country start with the words 'We the People,'" Carter said. "The sacred moments in American history are the moments when we have to decide who the 'we' is. Who gets to be included in the 'we.' Do we mean Black people? Do we mean women? Do we mean immigrants?"

Robert Pape, a political violence researcher at the University of Chicago, said Trump's words are more than just "nasty metaphors."

"You're not thinking of something that is human, you're thinking of [garbage] as something that can be easily thrown away," Pape told the Times. "That is exactly the kind of metaphor we have just found for, really, decades is likely to increase support for violence."

In late October, the Trump administration said it would only admit 7,500 refugees into the US in 2026, reserving most slots for white South Africans, who Trump has falsely claimed are victims of genocide.